Jeffrey Wright
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Washington, D.C., USA
Actor Jeffrey Wright has earned an estimable reputation as one of the most versatile character actors of his generation, both on-stage and onscreen. Jeffrey Wright was born in Washington, D.C., in late 1965. Wright's father died when he was only a year old, and his mother, a lawyer working with the United States Customs Department, raised him with the help of her sister, a nurse. A strong student, Wright attended the prestigious St. Alban's School for Boys in Washington, D.C., and went on to receive a B.A. in Political Science at Amherst College in 1987. While at Amherst, Wright developed an interest in acting, and decided to continue his studies in the Theater department at New York University. While Wright was good enough to win an acting scholarship at N.Y.U., after only two months he opted to strike out on his own as a professional. Roles in off-Broadway plays followed, and Wright scored his first film role in 1990 with a bit part in Presumed Innocent. After a number of television roles and much theater work, in 1994 Wright got his big break when he was cast as Belize, Roy Cohn's nurse, in the acclaimed Broadway drama Angels In America: Perestroika; his performance won him a Tony Award. In 1996, Wright scored a breakthrough film role when he was cast in the lead of Basquiat, delivering a strong performance alongside a veteran cast which included Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, and Benicio del Toro. A steady flow of character roles followed, including showy supporting work in Celebrity, Ride With the Devil, and Shaft, while Wright gave a compelling performance as Dr. Martin Luther King in the made-for-cable film Boycott. Wright continued to pursue his love of live theater as well, winning an Obie Award in 2002 for his performance (opposite Don Cheadle) in Suzan-Lori Parks' play Topdog/Underdog. Critically-acclaimed screen roles in Lackawanna Blues, Broken Flowers, and Syriana kept Wright on the short list for producers in search of quality supporting players, and by bridging the gap between stage and screen with his multi-tiered role in the acclaimed HBO miniseries Angels in America, the actor would would earn both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. In 2006 Wright could be seen performing opposite Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard in director M. NIght Shyamalan's modern fairytale Lady in the Water.
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | The Batman |
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— | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Time To Die |
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— | 2020 |
No Score Yet | The French Dispatch |
|
— | 2020 |
57% | All Rise |
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— | 2020 |
54% | All Day and a Night |
|
— | 2020 |
No Score Yet | Age Out |
|
— | 2019 |
41% | The Laundromat |
|
— | 2019 |
25% | The Goldfinch |
|
— | 2019 |
66% | The Public |
|
— | 2019 |
No Score Yet | Monster |
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— | 2019 |
70% | Hold the Dark |
|
— | 2018 |
No Score Yet | We Are Not Done Yet |
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— | 2018 |
No Score Yet | Friday's Child |
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— | 2018 |
89% | O.G. |
|
— | 2018 |
83% | Confirmation |
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— | 2016 |
76% | The Good Dinosaur |
|
$123.1M | 2015 |
69% | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 |
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$254.7M | 2015 |
68% | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 |
|
$295.5M | 2014 |
85% | Only Lovers Left Alive |
|
— | 2014 |
No Score Yet | Mass Extinction: Life at the Brink |
|
— | 2014 |
90% | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire |
|
$336.7M | 2013 |
84% | The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete |
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$0.5M | 2013 |
49% | A Single Shot |
|
— | 2013 |
28% | Broken City |
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$19.6M | 2013 |
83% | The Ides of March |
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$41M | 2011 |
92% | Source Code |
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$54.7M | 2011 |
66% | Cadillac Records |
|
$8.2M | 2008 |
64% | Quantum of Solace |
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$168.4M | 2008 |
58% | W. |
|
$25.6M | 2008 |
No Score Yet | The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Scandal of 1920 |
|
— | 2008 |
81% | Chicago 10 |
|
— | 2008 |
No Score Yet | Blackout |
|
— | 2007 |
19% | The Invasion |
|
$15.2M | 2007 |
94% | Casino Royale |
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$167.1M | 2006 |
25% | Lady in the Water |
|
$42.3M | 2006 |
No Score Yet | Ali's 65 |
|
— | 2006 |
73% | Syriana |
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$50.9M | 2005 |
87% | Broken Flowers |
|
$13.6M | 2005 |
75% | Lackawanna Blues |
|
— | 2005 |
100% | Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson |
|
— | 2005 |
No Score Yet | Topdog Diaries |
|
— | 2004 |
80% | The Manchurian Candidate |
|
$65.8M | 2004 |
No Score Yet | Sin's Kitchen |
|
— | 2004 |
78% | With All Deliberate Speed: The Legacy of Brown vs. Board |
|
— | 2004 |
18% | D-Tox (Eye See You) |
|
— | 2002 |
68% | Ali |
|
$58.2M | 2001 |
No Score Yet | Boycott |
|
— | 2000 |
67% | Shaft |
|
$70.4M | 2000 |
59% | Hamlet |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | The Giraffe (Meschugge) |
|
— | 2000 |
21% | Crime & Punishment in Suburbia |
|
— | 2000 |
64% | Ride With the Devil |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Cement |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Too Tired to Die |
|
— | 1998 |
40% | Celebrity |
|
— | 1998 |
59% | Critical Care |
|
— | 1997 |
68% | Basquiat |
|
— | 1996 |
7% | Faithful |
|
— | 1996 |
No Score Yet | Jumpin' at the Boneyard |
|
— | 1992 |
83% | Separate But Equal |
|
— | 1991 |
87% | Presumed Innocent |
|
— | 1990 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
82% |
Westworld
2015
|
|
|
100% |
Green Eggs and Ham
2019
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Last Call With Carson Daly
2007-2019
|
|
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No Score Yet |
Late Night With Seth Meyers
2014
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Daily Show With Trevor Noah
2015
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Close Up With the Hollywood Reporter
2015
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Saving My Tomorrow
2014
|
|
|
92% |
Boardwalk Empire
2010-2014
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Chelsea Lately
2007-2014
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell
2012-2013
|
|
|
90% |
House
2004-2012
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Independent Lens
1999
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
American Experience
1988
|
|
|
90% |
Angels in America
2003
|
|
|
91% |
Homicide: Life on the Street
1993-1999
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
New York Undercover
1994-1998
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
2015
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
What If...?
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Quotes from Jeffrey Wright's Characters
Poppa: | I think we went far enough today. Let's get you home. |
Beetee: | I have to, at least once. |
Beetee: | I have to. At least once. |
Felix leiter: | You know who Greene is and you want to put us in bed with him. You're kidding, right? |
Gregg Beam: | Yeah, you're right. We should just deal with nice people. I need to know you're on the team, Felix. I need to know you value your career. |
Dr. Rutledge: | One of these days, the right crisis is going to rear it's head, and Source Code is going to have it's moment in the sun. |
Colin Powell: | to Cheney: Fuck you. |
Colin Powell: | [to Cheney] Fuck you. |
Captain Colter Stevens: | I can save her |
Captain Colter Stevens: | I can save her. |
Dr. Rutledge: | It doesn't work that way. You can't alter this reality while inside the Source Code. |
Captain Colter Stevens: | I'm asking you to have the decency to let me try. |